Movie review: Rosa Salazar is heart and soul of ‘Alita: Battle Angel’

Dana Barbuto More Content Now

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Feb 11, 2019 at 8:43 AMFeb 11, 2019 at 8:43 AM

“Alita: Battle Angel” has been James Cameron’s passion project for 20 years - and it shows. Two decades ago the movie would have been groundbreaking in its performance-capture technology and in its strong-female protagonist. Now it just feels like a knockoff of every other dystopian teen movie with an Everygirl possessing mad fighting skills and an inner strength. Think: Katniss from “The Hunger Games” or Tris from “Divergent.” They’re all tasked with slaying what we now call “toxic masculinity,” while simultaneously trying to find their identity in a world gone to hell in a handbasket. There could be worse stories to tell these days.

In the case of “Alita ” - adapted from Yukito Kishiro’s manga - the setting is 2563, which is 300 years after “The Fall,” a catastrophic war that leaves the Earth in ruins. Only two cities are left standing: Zalem, a sky metropolis (think: “Elysium”) for the wealthy; and Iron City, a haven for immigrants, low-lifes, working stiffs and those with no hope - ever - of ascending “up.” It’s a rule that’s never been broken, unless, of course you win the Motorball (like Roller Derby on in-line skates) title. Champions are welcome on Zalem.

While scavenging for robotic body parts, a compassionate Dr. Dyson Ido (Christoph Waltz) plucks the torso of a teen girl from a heap of junk, takes her back to his clinic, rebuilds her and voilà, she’s a cyborg with both artificial and biological parts - flesh and metal with big brown eyes and voice that sounds a lot like Rosa Salazar. But here’s the rub: Alita can’t remember anything. And, in all his fatherly wisdom Ido points out that she may not have a past, but she can have a great future.

Did you get all that? Cameron’s script is very busy and details muddled. It only gets worse. Director Robert Rodriguez (“Sin City”) relies on his usual high style, with set pieces that are big, loud and hyper. What Cameron’s script, which he co-wrote with Laeta Kalogridis and Rodriguez, lacks in character development and narrative is offset by endless (it feels like an eternity) cartoon violence and battles. Particularly annoying is the story’s predictability. From the get-go, you can peg which character will have a change of heart, which characters won’t live to see the inevitable sequel, which one is up to no good.

What you can’t grasp immediately is who is the villain? Is it Jennifer Connelly’s Cherene and Mahershala Ali’s Vector? They’re the nefarious owners of the Motorball circuit. He’s a promoter; she’s a tuner (engineer). Is it the mysterious Nova (surprise actor in last-scene reveal), some being from “up” who can inhabit Vector’s body? Or is it the slew of “hunter warriors” (bounty hunters played by Ed Skrein and Jackie Earle Haley) who feel threatened by Alita once her fighting prowess is revealed?

As if all this plot, plot, plot isn’t enough, there’s MORE, including a pivotal Motorball match and a series of climatic showdowns for Alita, one with Haley’s hunk of metal Grewishka, and another with Skrein’s mohawked blade-wielding Zapan. Alita also has a crush on a cute boy, Hugo (Keenan Johnson), who deals cyborg body parts on the black market; or at least when he’s not spewing inane dialogue about his dream to move to the sky city. If we’re being honest, Hugo, in character and acting, is the film’s weakest link. Why weigh down Alita’s empowering story with a love interest? To flip Mick’s wise words from “Rocky,” men weaken legs.

Alita is supposed to be empowering, yet she lacks a strong female figure in her life. She’s the product of the men around her. She’s literally built up and torn down by them. At one point, she’s even told she has the face of an angel and a body for battle. Eww. There’s even a scene where her breasts grow larger. Double eww. But this kind of stuff is in the wheelhouse of Rodriguez. So, when Alita does tells all the men whose butts she’s kicked that she’s “insignificant girl” - it’s a nice pay off.

The film has three things in particular going for it. One is its breakneck speed, which doesn’t give you much time to analyze the film’s shortcomings in real-time. Trust me, they’ll come at you fast and furiously afterward. The other is the charming performances by Salazar and Waltz, who develop a sweet daughter-father bond. The third is the performance-capture technology, which is a marvel, so much so, you forget Alita is a computer-generated character. Kudos to Salazar, too, for filling Alita with her heart and soul.

Dana Barbuto may be reached at dbarbuto@patriotledger.com or follow her on Twitter @dbarbuto_Ledger.